High school football: Mountain Crest scores early, hangs on to down Pocatello

POCATELLO — Mountain Crest Mark Wootton expected his team's 28-21 win over Pocatello in the Rocky Mountain Rumble to be a "playoff-like atmosphere."

An easy win wasn't likely. He continued to think that way even after the Mustangs banged the opening kickoff off the shoulder pad of a Pocatello player and Mountain Crest recovered.

The score was 7-0 just 24 seconds into the game. Wootton didn't breathe easier again until the final clock ran out.

The Indians rallied from their opening-quarter troubles, chased Mountain Crest quarterback Alex Kuresa all over the field, but didn't quite have the stamina to pull off the upset.

"These guys came after us, and they had a good (home) crowd," said Wootton, whose team improved to 3-1 overall. "We feel very fortunate."

"We had a chance," said Pocatello coach Tom Harrison. "We couldn't get our defense off the field in the fourth quarter."

Mountain Crest took a 12-0 lead, thanks to odd game-opening fumble recovery and Kuresa's shifty running, which resulted in a 9-yard touchdown pass to Matt Stewart and, a few minutes later,a 13-yard scamper by Alex Knowles.

After that, Kuresa was running for his life any time he dropped back to pass. With Mountain Crest's offense in disarray, Pocatello rallied and took the lead into halftime after Richie Te'o forced a Kuresa fumble, picked up the ball and ran 31 yards for a score.

With their crowd backing them in Pocatello's loud indoor facility, it took a while for Mountain Crest to find a solution. Finally, the Mustangs turned to Kuresa, Knowles, Josh Ebanez and Brennen Archibald to run the ball.

And the Mustangs were successful. In fact, Mountain Crest did not pass the ball in the second half, except to surprise the Indians on two-point conversion plays.

Mountain Crest finally went ahead on a 70-yard drive that consisted of 15 running plays. Kuresa scored on a 1-yard run and then shocked the Pocatello defense with a two-point pass completion to Knowles.

Mountain Crest held Pocatello on its next drive, and then took advantage a 3-yard punt. It tok six plays, but Kuresa scored on a 4-yard run, and then completed a pass to Joseph Carley for the conversion.

Kuresa finished the game completing 13 of 19 passes for 138 yards. He also ran for 38 more.

Pocatello added an almost meaningless touchdown in the final minute, but Wootton only relaxed when the Mustangs recovered the onsides kick.